Where and when did you grow up, if you did at all.?
Grew in the West. My maternal grandmother lived in a small mountain town, and it was she who explained homosexuality to me when I was no more than ten. She said some of the kindest bachelors and spinsters in town (some of them who were roommates) were homosexuals--the town knew and that was all there was to it.
Of course, back in the day, that small town's chief police officer always took a handful of cookies with him when he was asked to resolve a business or domestic dispute.
A friend in high school was homosexual and so was one of my favorite teachers. No one made an issue over it. Years later, one of my favorite bosses happened to be a homosexual. It wasn't hidden.
Years after that, in a different town, I was then substitute teaching. The weather wasn't great, and when lunch started, I noticed students clustered in the hallway outside of my classroom. I went out to check on them and they said the regular teacher told them not to bother the sub during lunch.
"Does he usually let you eat in his classroom?" They said he did, and I said, "Well then come on in." They hesitated, and then one said, "We're the gay students."
"As long as you're not the book burning students, and if you're not bothered by a strange teacher in the room, it doesn't bother me if you would like to eat lunch in here as well."
Like most students, they were polite, but they did note that some people were uncomfortable.
...
So that's been my experience in four different places--and all but the first were cities--not metro cities, but decently populated. One was in the South, all others have been in Western states.
